SC Soccer Forums SCSoccer.com Forums Boys Varsity Soccer High School Soccer

The one question so-far unanswered here is: How do college coaches feel about the Academy announcement? Are college coaches with 2013 commitments going to suggest/require those kids to play Academy, or will they give kids an option? And, will as-yet uncommitted 2013s suffer from NOT playing Academy in the Fall?

Jay-Jay - Brilliant and erudite. Well said.

I see all the post about the DA or High School if my son had a choice it would be DA but lucky for his High School there is not room on the DA for him. There also is another problem for players like my son. He is a good player but has not been selected for the DA. He trains and plays at a high level but the problem lies with this. As the DA grows with only one DA team in SC, they select players from different clubs to build the team that the DA coaches feel would be the best options to field a strong competitive team. As the better players usual are pulled from the premier teams which in essence waters down the premier team. When the premier team loses one to two players the team could survive if they can find players to replace the lost talents which is a hit or miss. However if the same premier team gets hit year after year and losing some of the best players to the DA then the Premier team would be left with few options for the remaining players that were not selected for the DA. He could continue to play club but if his team is pulled apart to the point they would not be competitive even at a lower level of play what would you do? He could play up an age group that he could handle but if he was playing in the U18 bracket then what would he do the following year when you would be back to square one. He could change clubs but that would mean driving great distances to practice during school nights. Not play club and join the Adult leagues until college. The options are not looking really good.
DA is as highly competitive soccer that our youth will ever see and I feel that if a player wants to take their soccer to the next level it's a path that should be looked hard into. I just wished that our state could have more than one team but our talent base may not be there just yet to support that but its coming I hope but too late for my son or so it seems.
So bottom line if a player would like to choose HS over DA let us know for my son would gladly fill the empty slot and forgo HS and his HS coach would support my son all the way which he already has stated many times!

1. Who is cutting HS out of the picture? Did someone really say for HS to stop playing soccer?

2. Which program in the state is supposedly going to suffer greatly? What is the name of the HS?

3. What is a job of a coach?

Claudio Reyna and the rest of US Soccer has just been hinting at it with some of the changes they have been making.

For example: Switching the development academy clubs to a 10 month season.

I have read many of the comments here and I would like to put my two cents in and try to do so as unbiased as possible.

Pros for HS - it fits the sense community, it is socially important to be recognized as a member of the squad, it allows the player to enjoy participating with his life long friends

Cons for HS - most schools cannot provide acceptable coaching, most schools facilities are not suitable, most schools pay minimal stipend to coaches who have to spend the same amount of time as other sports, most school cannot field highly competitive teams ( this is the reason why the same schools are talked about year after year), every year the roster makeup changes, Not all states play the same season

Pros for DA - Highly structured, competitive games, competitive teammates, qualified "highly" compensated coaches, team "stability" every year

Cons for DA - playing Costs (paid by player),travel costs (paid by player), and I am sure plenty of others


The article states the demand for the 10 month season was brought up by the clubs... these are the same group of people who "benefit" from the ruling would they have voted against it?

On the other hand many of the arguments made for HS goes clearly against what HS do today

Billy and johnny go to the same school but they are "segregated" because of their academic abilities. Billy takes AP classes Johnny takes normal classes. Therefore HS recognize that learning is dependent on the individual's ability to grasp the requirements ... would this not be the same argument for different levels in a sport?

HS cannot do development of players to the extent that is discussed here. Most know that players develop most of their technical capabilities by around 14 at which time it tilts toward tactical development. You cannot develop players that are not all on the same page (see Billy and Johnny above)

And lastly...It is a shame that participating in a socially important time of one's life is reduced to having to make a choice at 14 (as many DA are moving in this direction). Perhaps it would have been easier to work with if the whole country played HS at the same time. I can agree with many of the comments about the feeling that players get with HS sport... In the end they are two separate issues

I am afraid there are no simple answers one way or the other

High school is being cut out of the Big Picture, as in marginalized, not eradicated.